I Was the Stepping Stone novel Chapter 10

Chapter 10

He had never seen me defy him before.

Only now did it dawn on him-I was truly slipping from his grasp. Some sense came to Alaric Thorne’s mind that somehow the woman standing in front of him might not be the one she used to be anymore.

A tide of remorse washed over him, but he stood firm against it, his pride an iron shield against the weight of his own

heart.

He admitted that he had heard of the teahouse indeed. The teahouse had gained quite the reputation lately.

Whispers spoke of its beautiful proprietress, a woman of grace and talent, skilled in music, poetry, and the art of tea-so refined that even royal tea masters paled in comparison.

Yet these were all things he had never known about me.

Hearing them now, it was as if he was learning of a stranger.

For the first time, it struck him: perhaps I didn’t need him to survive after all.

A flicker of something unreadable passed across his face. It was less than a second but I was sure I saw it, it was that kind of feeling that belongs to a man with blood and flesh, not that cold look, which I was so familiar with, that always

showed on a the resolute face of a proud general.

“And don’t misunderstand,” I added coldly. “This is merely my new hired hand.”

I refused to let his mind taint what was between us with filthy assumptions. Even in parting, I would leave no room for

doubt.

Alaric’s shoulders tensed, his pride wounded.

“You should return soon,” I said, my voice steady. “The High Princess would be displeased to learn you spent the night at

my teahouse.”

Never displease the High Princess-those had been his own words.

His face twisted between fury and humiliation. With a single slash of his sword, he shattered a porcelain vase nearby, the shards scattering like his fractured composure.

“Do you truly believe I care for a woman who degrades herself so easily?” he spat.

The world could call me shameless, and I would not flinch. But to hear him-the man who had once held my heart-speak

of me with such contempt?

Alaric Thorne, you of all people have no right to say those words.

I turned away, calling softly over my shoulder.

“Henry.”

“Escort our guest out.”

Chapter 10

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“With pleasure!” Henry grinned, his earlier playfulness replaced by icy disdain as he faced Alaric. “Get lost, or I’ll send you straight to the dessert!”

Seeing my resolute back, Alaric suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion crash over him.

What was he even doing here?

A Commander of the realm, drawing blades in the dead of night over a woman who no longer wanted him.

How pathetic, he thought. But soon the rage overwhelmed any other feelings in his heart.

“Arrogant wench,” he muttered under his breath before storming out, his rage a tempest in his wake.

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